To meet the demand for wireless data traffic having increased since deployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop an improved 5G or pre-5G communication system. Therefore, the 5G or pre-5G communication system is also called a ‘Beyond 4G Network’ or a ‘Post LTE System.’ The 5G communication system is considered to be implemented in higher frequency (mm Wave) bands, e.g., 60 GHz bands, so as to accomplish higher data rates. To decrease propagation loss of the radio waves and increase the transmission distance, the beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, an analog beam forming, large scale antenna techniques are discussed in 5G communication systems. In addition, in 5G communication systems, development for system network improvement is under way based on advanced small cells, cloud radio access networks (RANs), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, a moving network, cooperative communication, coordinated multi-points (COMP), reception-end interference cancellation and the like. In the 5G system, Hybrid FSK and QAM Modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as an advanced coding modulation (ACM), and filter bank multi carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) as an advanced access technology have been developed.
The Internet, which is a human centered connectivity network where humans generate and consume information, is now evolving to the internet of things (IoT) where distributed entities, such as things, exchange and process information without human intervention. The internet of everything (IoE), which is a combination of the IoT technology and Big Data processing technology through connection with a cloud server, has emerged. As technology elements, such as “sensing technology,” “wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure,” “service interface technology,” and “Security technology” have been demanded for IoT implementation, a sensor network, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, Machine Type Communication (MTC), and so forth have been recently researched. Such an IoT environment may provide intelligent Internet technology services that create a new value to human life by collecting and analyzing data generated among connected things. IoT may be applied to a variety of fields including a smart home, a smart building, a smart city, a smart car or connected cars, a smart grid, health care, smart appliances, and advanced medical services through convergence and combination between existing Information Technology (IT) and various industrial applications.
In line with this, various attempts have been made to apply 5G communication systems to IoT networks. For example, technologies such as a sensor network, Machine Type Communication (MTC), and M2M communication may be implemented by beamforming, MIMO, and array antennas. Application of a cloud radio access network (RAN) as the above-described Big Data processing technology may also be considered to be as an example of convergence between the 5G technology and the IoT technology.
Meanwhile, a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) is a smart card for use in mobile communication terminals. The UICC may include an access control module for access to a mobile operator's network. Examples of the access control module include a subscriber identity module (SIM), a universal SIM (USIM), and an internet protocol (IP) multimedia service identity module (ISIM). The UICC including a USIM is usually called a USIM card. Likewise, the UICC including an SIM is called an SIM card. In the following description, the term “SIM card” is used to cover the UICC card, USIM card, and UICC including ISIM. That is, the same technical approach can be applied to all of the SIM, USIM, ISIM, and other types of UICC.
An SIM card contains mobile communication subscriber information for use in subscriber authentication and traffic security key generation so as to make it possible for the subscriber to use a secure mobile communication service.
Typically, SIM cards are manufactured on demand from mobile network operators in an operator-specific manner; thus, a manufactured SIM card contains the authentication information (e.g., USIM application, IMSI, subscription permanent identifier (SUPI), K value, and OPc value) for use in access to the corresponding operator's network. The mobile network operator delivers the SIM cards supplied by the manufacturer to the subscribers. Afterward, the mobile network operator may manage the information in such a way of installing, updating, and deleting an application in the UICC using an over the air (OTA) technology. A subscriber may insert the SIM card into a mobile communication terminal for use of the corresponding mobile operator's network and application services. The SIM card makes it possible for the subscriber to use the authentication information, contact information, and phone book stored therein even when the subscriber changes the old mobile communication terminal for a new one.
However, the traditional concept of an SIM card may cause inconvenience when the subscriber attempts to use services provided by other mobile network operators. This means that acquisition by the subscriber of a physical SIM card is cumbersome. For example, a subscriber who travels abroad has to purchase a local SIM card to use a communication service provided by a local mobile network operator. Although it may be possible to mitigate such inconvenience by subscribing to a roaming service, the roaming service is restrictive because the roaming service rate is likely to be high and there may even be no roaming agreement between the network operators.
In order to solve the inconvenient problems discussed above, download of an SIM remotely and installing the SIM in the SIM card could be considered. In this approach, the user may download an SIM for use in a certain mobile operator's network in the SIM card anytime. It may also be possible for the user to download and install a plurality of SIMs and use one of the SIMs selectively. Meanwhile, the SIM card may be provided in the form of a fixed part or a detachable part. In particular, the UICC fixed in a terminal is called embedded UICC (eUICC), which may be configured to download a plurality of SIMs remotely for selective use thereof. In the following description, the SIM card that is capable of downloading and installing a plurality of remotely downloaded SIMs is referred to as an eUICC or an embedded SIM (eSIM) card. That is, SIM cards that are capable of installing multiple remotely-downloaded SIMs for selective use, regardless of being provided as a fixed or detachable part of a terminal, are collectively referred to as an eUICC or an eSIM card.
In the case of an eSIM-equipped open market-oriented terminal, if it has no existing SIM profile, the terminal has to access a subscription manager data preparation plus (SM-DP+) or subscription manager discovery service (SM-DS) to download an SIM profile for receiving a cellular network service provided by a mobile operator, i.e., mobile network operator (MNO). For example, the terminal may access an SM-DP+, as a provisioning server storing SIM profiles, to download an SIM profile. The terminal may access an SM-DS, as a server providing SM-DP+ address information, to inquire about the address of the SM-DP+ storing the SIM profile of the terminal and then download the SIM profile from the SM-DP+. In order to achieve this, there is a need of a method for providing a packet data network (PDN) connectivity or packet data unit (PDU) connectivity service that makes it possible for a terminal to access an eSIM server through a cellular network.
Particularly when a user has a terminal that is not registered with any network operator, it may be possible to provision an SIM profile in a payment plan subscription process which begins when the terminal powers on. In order for the user to check for payment plans of network operators and select a preferred payment plan, an alliance of device manufacturers and/or network operators or a 3rd party provider may manage a market of payment plans offered by network operators.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.